Podcast

The Gun Machine

Produced by WBUR, Boston’s NPR station, in partnership with The Trace, The Gun Machine looks into the past to bring you a story that most Americans never learned in history class: how early partnerships between mad scientist gunsmiths and a fledgling U.S. government created the gun industry in the Northeast, and how that industry has been partners with the government ever since.

Host Alain Stephens examines how this 250-year relationship underpins all Americans’ interactions with guns — including our failures in dealing with the fallout of gun violence.

The Gun Machine debuted on Oct. 4, 2023. Listen and follow on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Active Shooting

Introducing ‘The Gun Machine’: A Podcast About How America Was Forged by the Gun Industry

WBUR and The Trace bring you a story that most Americans never learned in history class — about the firearms industry’s grip on our country.
Team Trace

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Lead Reporters

  • Alain Stephens

    Staff Writer
    Alain is a staff writer covering developments in firearms technology and the ATF. His investigations into auto sears, toy guns, and ghost guns for The Trace have led to congressional action. A military veteran and gun owner, Alain did tours at inewsource and Texas Standard, where his work led to important public safety, civil rights, and criminal justice reforms.

  • Grace Tatter

    Producer
    Grace is the producer of The Trace and WBUR’s The Gun Machine. A former producer for WBUR’s On Point, she was also the lead producer for WBUR’s The Great Wager, which explored how the world’s two largest economies emerged from Nixon’s historic trip to China in February 1972.

Our award-winning podcast

“The Gun Machine,” an eight-episode series produced by WBUR in partnership with The Trace, is the national winner for podcast in the Large Market Radio category of the Edward R. Murrow Awards.